I've been meaning to write up about my experience at the Vipassana meditation course. It was an all round fantastic experience on several different levels. I've thought about how I would explain it a couple times and there is just so much to write. I've decided that in the interest of time and due to my procrastination I may as well offer up this tiny bit of my take on the course and it's teachings.
This email was sent to my dad who has already done an extensive amount of research into the course so I'm sorry if you've never heard about this style of meditation. I can't be bothered giving it an intro, check a few posts back on this blog and you'll get a bit of an overview.
Also take into account that this email is trying to calm my dad down and convince him to go and that it's worth while if he goes into the experience without expecting miracles and some sort of divine epithany. My dad was actually how I found out about the course but I ended up doing it without him and now he's finally found the time to go and has booked himself in.
Here we go::
hola!!
Hmm i think it's probably better to go in clear and not knowing that much because you have less expectations. In saying that, I think only knowing a bit will only make you stress more.
Some of the people who go expect too much from the technique and from themselves, they want results straight away and that's not how it works. It takes time to 'master the technique', when I left, I still couldn't feel as much as some of the other students. BUT THAT IS OKAY.
What they constantly tell you and try to get you to believe on a fundamental level is that your progress doesn't have to match anyone elses, everyone is different so don't stress out and think that you are 'behind', this isn't a race.
That all probably raises a lot of questions in your mind in terms of what you might feel through the technique. When I went, I had no idea what to expect. I wasn't all that familiar with meditating, I had a vague idea that you clear your mind and try to shut your brain off. What I learnt on the retreat is that there are lots of different ways to meditate and this technique is very particular. That is why they want you to learn it on a 10 day course and not by just using audio tapes or videos online. You really need to be immersed in the experience of having limited outside sensory stimulation to really kickstart your learning of this technique, and not just to learn the technique but to take up the value system they try to impart.
It's all kind of complicated and beautiful.
Basically the retreat teaches 2 main things. The technique of meditating, so the practical element. While also teaching how to be a good person....if you can really teach that. That is why I feel the experience was really beneficial for me and worked quickly, if not in the practical sense but at least to revitalise that moral compass.
On a practical sense, you basically just sit there, try incredibly hard to block out all your thoughts which will most likely take you a few days before you can do that for a whole hour. At the same time, you are feeling your body, feeling every sensation that springs up, wether it be an itch, a tingle, a numb foot or sore ankles. They actually teach you a very specific way of doing this, the order, and how you are supposed to think about what u are feeling. So pay attention and do exactly what they say!
The retreat sells itself and gets a lot of people trying it by making a pretty damn HUGE claim: to alleviate human suffering. I was pretty sceptical of that claim and because of that, I came into the retreat with the lowest of expectations because I thought it was laughable that anyone would even suggest being able to do that.
They say that to be truly happy, you have to be a good person. I think it's very difficult to start teaching someone a new set of values and morals past the age of about 5 so I think that is where this technique fails with some people. You can meditate all you want, but if you continue to do bad things, bad things will happen to you in return. Not even in a silly, magical karma way, but unless you are a sociopath, your conscience will weigh you down and make you miserable. So in essence, being a bad person and spreading negativity will stop you from being truly happy.
So i feel lucky that I grew up in a family that does value being good, and compassionate and empathetic. Being an advocate for those who are incapable of standing up for themselves, treating people with respect even if they hurt you and not being a vindictive person. The type of people who cry when they see someone suffering. Obviously no one is perfect and we all have our bad days, but I'm glad they passed on the importance of those traits. These are the types of values that Goenka speaks about every night in the daily discourse.
SO all this 'good person' stuff probably doesn't get as much attention as it deserves by everyone taking the course. Most people get caught up in the technique. I noticed that in the blogs I read too. Which in the end, is great and all and it does serve it's own unique purpose, it does help you break down the negativity and bad things that you hold onto, it helps you sharpen and train your mind BUT I see it in the same way as, you don't need to sit in church every sunday to be Christian. Just in the same way that you don't need to become fully enlightened the first time you practice this technique to reap it's benefits and become a happier human being.
I also want to mention that this is not religious in the slightest so don't think that it is and get put off by the idea. Personally I felt like it was a religious experience for me because it reminded me of the way I used to approach my faith. The whole technique and way of life has a very humanist approach. Anyone of any faith or background should be able to practice this without it interfering or contradicting anything.
One of the most beautiful things that Goeka said that really struck a chord with me was "God is love". No matter what religion or belief, in the end, every God, wether it be the Buddah's, Alah or the Trimurti, they all imparts basically the same message. Be good and love your fellow man. Religion then gets all messed up and complicated because of human interpretation but in the end they all want the same thing. They teach that you need to become a better person and to bring peace and happiness to everyone.
lol I went a little overboard explain haha but i think that covers the general gist of it all.
